China Activates World's First Mini Nuclear Reactor

For 15 years, rich countries have promised a new kind of nuclear reactor. One small enough to build inside a factory. One you could ship to a job site like a piece of furniture. Nobody has gotten one running yet. But right now, on a tropical island off the coast of southern China, engineers are running the final tests on exactly that kind of machine. It is close. The countdown is now measured in months, not years, not decades. This is not a normal power plant. It does not need a giant cooling tower. It does not need a site the size of a small town. You could build its core far away, move it into place, and set it down almost anywhere that needs clean power. And this reactor has a second job, too. It is also expected to help turn seawater into fresh drinking water for an island that needs both power and water at the same time. A normal power plant was never asked to do that.